The Laws of the Web: Patterns in the Ecology of Information

by Bernardo A. Huberman

An accessible explanation of the hidden patterns found within the seemingly chaotic World Wide Web.

Genres: Nonfiction

116 pages, Paperback

First published September 28, 2001

Reviews

[Alexander Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although, not terribly detailed, this book makes for an excellent introduction to the supposed "natural laws" that appeared to be observable early in social Internet research studies. Each chapter is dedicated to explaining a "law" or relatively stable concept about online behavior. These range from the power law distributional structure, and usage of webpages to the economic costs of information use.

The data here are a little dated and not quite as nuanced as they may seem at first glance, perhaps in effort to keep this book as a consumable, fast read. This makes for an excellent read for an undergrad or masters student who is interested in knowing some basic principles of Internet studies, and it also helps frame some interesting informationally computational, economic, and sociological questions without being bogged down with mathematical technicality. This book will make the reader feel intelligent, but it hides the majority of the structures which developed its claims.

[Shannon Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the end chapters are now slightly dated this is still a highly relevant short discussion about underlying patterns and regularities in the web. As a technologist and network thinker myself this is a book I should have read years ago and I'm glad I finally did.